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*Official* South Africa Test Tour of Zimbabwe 2025

Red_Ink_Squid

Red_Ink_Squid

Global Moderator
Guess if it had been anyone but him closing on the record Mulder would have let them carry on, just felt pressure to Do The Right* Thing because he was captain. Shame.

Hope he breaks the record in the second innings.


*I.e. wrong
 
centurymaker

centurymaker

Cricketer Of The Year
Bolo. said:
Mulder is such a poes. He's now running in from the boundary to bowl @ 130ish. If you have that kind of energy, score 400+, ya ****.
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In fact even 450 was on. They should have batted till close to tea and totally drained the opposition.
 
Starfighter

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
centurymaker said:
I mentioned these three because there was no cricketing logic behind these declarations. These players simply didn't want to have a World Record next to their name. Clarke had 2.5 days to bowl India out just once but declared. Warner's case Australia declared after only 127 overs in 1st innings. And Mulder after 114 overs. Even more ridiculous lol.
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The cricketing logic behind Clarke and Taylor was that they didn't want to pass 334* 'out of respect for Don Bradman'. As someone who's not a hero worshipper (or huge fan of Bradman as a person) that logic isn't for me. I don't remember what went on with Warner's.

I suppose we'll have to wait till after the day's play is over to find out Mulder's reasoning, but if it was anything to do with not wanting to beat Lara I might vomit. It's not like they'll need more than two days to bowl out Zimbabwe twice.

Records are there to be broken, and while there are a couple that I hope never will be, if they are then it's the game moving forward.
 
centurymaker

centurymaker

Cricketer Of The Year
Red_Ink_Squid said:
Guess if it had been anyone but him closing on the record Mulder would have let them carry on, just felt pressure to Do The Right* Thing because he was captain. Shame.

Hope he breaks the record in the second innings.

*I.e. wrong
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True. But if there were any seniors still in the side, they may have told him not to be silly and simply push on.

If he wasn't approaching a record, I don't think he or SA would have declared this soon.
 
Dendarii

Dendarii

International Debutant
Starfighter said:
The cricketing logic behind Clarke and Taylor was that they didn't want to pass 334* 'out of respect for Don Bradman'. As someone who's not a hero worshipper (or huge fan of Bradman as a person) that logic isn't for me.
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That I can get behind a little given how immense Bradman's record is and how iconic he is to Australians. But Lara doesn't hold that sort of status amongst South Africans. If it had been Graeme Pollock then maybe, but Pollock's score has already been surpassed multiple times.
 
Dendarii

Dendarii

International Debutant
centurymaker said:
True. But if there were any seniors still in the side, they may have told him not to be silly and simply push on.
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In that case, shouldn't it come down to the coach? I have a great deal of respect for Shukri Conrad for everything he's done during his tenure as coach, but allowing (or telling if that was the case) Mulder to declare is something I completely disagree with.
 
Starfighter

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Perhaps the thing that annoys me is that while for very good teams there's enough chances to thrash the pants off a weak opponent, chances to break records or at least put up gratuitous totals and milestones are rarer. The declaration which perhaps annoyed me most (at least prior to this one) was in 2018 when Williamson declared against SL with de Grandhomme on 71*(45) and plenty of time remaining. Why not bat a bit more to let him get his ton? In the end NZ won with 87.4 overs to spare - a close shave!

But this one defies all belief. You have the chance to break one of test cricket's biggest, most coveted records and still have more than three days to bowl out the opposition twice? What possible reason is there for not having a go?
 
the big bambino

the big bambino

Cricketer Of The Year
Being caught up with the tests in England and the WI I've overlooked this match. Can only agree with the sentiments expressed here regarding the declaration. It's not as if a guy with a 109 SR is being selfish either. What a missed opportunity and almost disrespectful of the occasion.
 
Starfighter

Starfighter

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Looking around other parts of the internet, there's lots of similar reactions.

It's really funny an otherwise monumental innings can inspire anger of all things simply because he didn't do what seemed so obvious to do.
 
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